The Lord God, throughout his
word, threatens unbelieving, willful rebels with
wrath, judgment, everlasting damnation. He has demonstrated over and
over again the fact that though judgment is his strange work,
it is his work. and he will punish sin. God will
send you to hell. God will send you to hell. We live clearly in a generation
that is under the judgment of God. This age of Arminian free will,
works, Call it by whatever name you wish to call it, it doesn't
matter. Where men and women are taught
and convinced that God's in their hip pocket, that salvation depends
on their will, their works, their worth, their decision for Jesus,
they're saying a prayer, they're going to church, they're going
through Mass, they're being baptized, they're... anything else you
find in barnyards. Use your imagination what I infer
to you. Apostle Paul calls the whole thing just dumb. He calls
their gods dumb gods. And I'm telling you, the gods
of this age are dumb gods. And the religion of this age
is just dumb. And it's be counted as that,
the utter stinking refuge of the world. It's refuge. And it is, according to 2 Thessalonians
chapter 2, the result of divine judgment. God said you want to
worship yourself, alright here you can have it. God said you
refuse my way, alright walk in your way. And he fixes it so
you can't escape. He fixes it. He fixes it. You ever wonder why? Why doesn't
God just send the world to hell now? Why? Why doesn't God pour out fire
and brimstone on this generation like he did on Sodom and Gomorrah?
Man, Sodom and Gomorrah looked like a Sunday school picnic compared
to this generation. They didn't have a thing on earth. Not a thing on earth on us. This
generation, Noah's generation, those folks looked like monks
and nunneries living in seclusion to themselves compared to this
generation. Why on earth doesn't God destroy the earth then? Why? We live in this perverse, degenerate,
decadent, self-serving society. The whole age, the whole generation. Folks, well, I'm not happy. I want to be happy. Why don't
you quit worshiping your lust? Quit serving your lust. God didn't
make this world for you to be happy. God didn't make this world
for your pleasure. I won't, I won't. You better
find out what God wants. You better find out what God
requires. The religion of the age, like the philosophy of the
age, is a religion of self and self-centeredness. Why does God
allow it to continue? Look in our text here in Isaiah
65 and verse 8. Just hold your Bibles open here. Thus saith the Lord, as new wine
is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for
a blessing is in it. A blessing is in it. So will
I do for my servant's sake, that I may not destroy them all."
The first thing I want you to see
this morning is this. The blessing of God is often
found in that which appears to be utterly worthless. The blessing of God is often
found and that which appears to be utterly worthless. The
picture drawn before us in this eighth verse is very clear. A
man who owns an estate goes out and he sees his gardener, as
the gardener is taking care of the venue, taking care of this
thing and that, and he sees him about to cut down a withered
vine, and not anything on earth, in the field anyway, much more
ugly and useless than a dried up, withered up grapevine. And
the gardener looks at that and he says, he says, let's get rid
of that. Let's just cut it down. And as he's about to do it, the
owner comes by and he says, wait, wait, don't, don't destroy that.
I see some life there. There's, there's a blessing there.
Hang on, hang on, leave it alone. So the Lord God looks upon this
worthless race of men called humanity. He looks upon this
worthless generation, this generation of men and women who are well
represented by you and me, and he says, don't destroy it. A
blessing, isn't it? Now, the Holy Spirit doesn't
leave us to guess about this. This is exactly what he tells
us. He says, so will I do for my servants' sake, that I will
not destroy them all. You see, God here refers to the
whole race of humanity as His servants. We're all His servants. Some of us delightfully, some
of us as rebels, but still His servants. Some of us love to
be His servants and want to do His will, but all are His servants
and all do His will, absolutely. The Lord God declares, He hath
made all things for Himself, yea, even the wicked for the
day of judgment. And you are his servant, like
it or not. You will serve his purpose, like
it or not. You will do his bidding, like
it or not. Even Satan and the demons of
hell only wiggle their fingers at God's behest and God's decree. They do nothing without him.
You see, God's elect in this world are the blessing hidden
among the nations of the world for which he preserves the world. I want you to hear that. I want
you to understand it. God's elect in this world are
the blessing hidden among the nations of the world, for which
he preserves the world. Turn to 2 Peter 3, verse 9. 2
Peter 3, 9. Whenever I preach or write or
say something about God's sovereignty, God's electing love, God's eternal
purpose of grace, Among folks who don't know God, they spit
2 Peter 3, 9 back almost as quickly as they draw a breath. And they
say, there, the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some
men count slackness but as longsuffering, not willing that any should perish.
But they leave out such significant parts of the verse. Did you notice
that? This is what the text says, the Lord is not slack concerning
his promise, as some men count slackness. You see, men look
at it and say, well, gosh, he hasn't sent me to hell yet, he's
not going to send me to hell. Christ hasn't come yet, he's
not going to come. Kind of like you mommas and daddies do with
your kids when you refuse to make them mind you, you say,
now if you do that again, do that again, do that again, do
that again, and the kids say, well, they're lying, they're
going to punish you there. He's not going to hit me. He's
not going to make me do anything. That's exactly how men respond
because they do not see. the wrath of God upon them, because
they do not presently experience divine judgment. The Lord's slack.
He's not going to do what he said, but read what he says.
But is long-suffering to us-ward. Merle Hart, God Almighty is not
long-suffering to your neighbor, he's long-suffering to you. He's
not long-suffering to the generation in which we live, he's long-suffering
to us-ward. His longsuffering is not reflected
in the fact that he puts up with and uses, reprobate ungodly,
unbelieving men. His longsuffering is salvation. His longsuffering is to usward. Read on now. Not willing that
any, any of those to whom he's longsuffering should perish,
but that all of them, everyone should come to repentance. Now
this is what Peter's telling us, this is what our Lord tells
us in Isaiah 65. The only reason God does not
destroy this world right now is because there is a remnant,
according to the election of grace, who must be saved. They're
sitting here in this congregation, I have no doubt, some of God's
elect remnant. You see, God always deals in
remnants. He always has. Somebody said,
one man's trash is another man's treasure. I have some friends
who are in cloth business. They only deal in remnants. And
they both made a fortune at it. They just deal in remnants. That's
all they deal with. They go buy what other folks are going to
throw away. They go buy it, jump and resell it. God Almighty only
deals in trash like you and me. That which the world counts all
scouring, useless and nothing, that's what God deals with. There
is a remnant according to the election of grace. And everything
God does in this world is for the elect's sake. Every benefit
of providential mercy that the reprobate in the world may enjoy
is because he lives in the midst of God's elect. Did you hear
that? Every benefit of providence that
reprobate men may enjoy is because they live in a world with God's
elect. God sends the sunshine and the
rain on the just and the unjust, but he sends it for the just,
David. He doesn't send it for the unjust. If I, I live out
here, last year we had nine weeks of drought, and you know my garden
burned up just like everybody else's did. It burned up just
like, my ground just as bad as everybody else's. How come? Because
God sends drought to warn the wicked of wrath to come, of everlasting
drought to their souls. And I'm living among them. So I have to endure some things
they have to endure. And then he sends rain. Boy, rain. Well, the Lord blessed
us this year. He sent us a lot of rain. No,
he blessed me. You just get some of the rain because you live
next door to me, that's all. Do you understand what I'm saying?
Everything God does, he does for his elect. The Lord God speaks
concerning those who are his elect remnant, and says concerning
the race of mankind, destroy it not, for a blessing is in
it. Now that's not my opinion. This
is what God says. Look at the text. So will I do
for my servant's sake. What's Noah the blessing? He was, Rex, the blessing in
the earth. Noah was God's blessing in the
earth. He was the blessing. All grace. All grace. In fact, all the host
of God's elect were in that man Noah. All of them. All of them. God said, all right, Noah, get
in the ark. And he shut him in, and he destroyed
everything else. Everything else. Once locked,
the blessing. Oh, Brother Locke, how come,
how come God took that last school out of Sodom? Well, because he
was one of God's. God chose him. God called him. God made him righteous. But I'll
tell you something else. There was an elect child by the
name of Moab in his loins. An elect child that is a Moabitess
in his Lord by the name of Ruth. Through whom Jesus Christ his
Son would come into the world, by whom James would be redeemed.
Lord! Get out of the city. Man, I don't want to go. I'd
like to stay here. Oh, I like it down here. Poor old Lot, he was so much
like us. And the angels of God grabbed him by the arm and said,
you're leaving the city because we can't destroy it until you
go. And when the blessing was gone, wrath fell. Joshua and
Caleb, the blessing, entered into the land to promise that
all who came out of Egypt with them perished under the wrath
of God. And the rest of the world The
rest of the world, all the rest of the world, would to God, you
can understand this children of God, all the rest of the world
exist and thrive and are used by God for you. For his people. That's it. Turn to Isaiah 43. Isaiah 43. You see, God's elect are the
blessed in the world. God's elect are that treasure
hidden in the field for which the Son of God purchased the
field that he might get the treasure. A treasure because he made them
his treasure. People these days talk about
God's universal love and universal kindness and universal benevolence
and universal grace and universal mercy. There's nothing that God
does that's universal. Nothing. Nothing. Everything
God does in mercy, love, and grace is for his people. Everything. Read it now. Isaiah
43. Now thus saith the Lord that
created thee, O Jacob. He that formed thee, O Israel,
fear not, for I have redeemed thee. Now if you redeemed everybody,
nobody had anything to fear, would they? He said, you don't
need to be afraid of anything. I bought you. Read on. I called
you by your name. Well, I believe God calls everybody.
Well, you believe wrong. I called you by your name. Thou art mine. Now listen to me. If God has called your name,
if God's called you to himself, if God's redeemed you, You're
his. You're his. When thou passest through the
waters, I will be with the whole world. Is that what it says?
When you pass through the waters, I'm going to be with you and
Pharaoh and Egypt as they pass through the waters too. That's
not what it says. He says when you pass through
the waters, I'll be with you. Read over. And through the rivers
They shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire,
you'll not be burned, won't do you any harm. Neither shall the
flame kindle upon you. You're not even going to smell
like smoke. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel,
your Savior. Now hold on to your seat. I gave
Egypt for your ransom. Now, I'll tell you what. You
go down to the Red Sea and tell Egypt, smile, God loves you.
That's all it says there, is it? God says, I gave Egypt to
save you. I gave Egypt to save you. Egypt. Didn't bat an eye in doing it. Put you, you mamas or daddies
wouldn't do the same thing. Put you, you wouldn't. Boy, I'd
hate to have to make that decision. Not if you had to make it, you
wouldn't. Not if you had to make it. You'd sacrifice anybody to
save your kids. You'd sacrifice anything to save
your kids. The Lord God says, I gave Egypt
for you. Read on now, read on. Ethiopia and Cebu, same thing. How could you? How could that
be? Since you were precious in my
sight, you have been honorable and I have loved you. Oh, thank God. I have loved you, you. Not Egypt, not Ethiopia, not
Ziba, not the world, not everybody, you! I have loved you. Therefore will I give men for
you and people for your life. Fear not, I'm with you. I'll bring your seed from the
east and gather you from the west." Now, in this particular
text, Isaiah is talking to us about these gospel days in which
we live. We know that, because our Lord
tells us plainly that that's the language used to describe
this age. And he tells us that many are
called, but few are chosen. This eighth verse is also a declaration
that wherever the blessing of God's grace is found in the sinner's
heart, it will not be destroyed. As God will not destroy the earth
for the sake of his elect, till all his elect are saved, wherever
God puts his grace in a sinner's heart, all hell can't destroy
it. As God planted his kingdom in
your heart, Has God set his grace in you? Has God given you his
darling son? Then all hell can't destroy him.
Like new wine in the grape, grace is a new thing in the hearts
of men. Like new wine, grace is delightful both to God who
gives it and to believing sinners who profit by it. Like new wine
in the cluster must be pressed out, so the graces of the Spirit
put in us must be tested and tried under the crushing hand
of God's providence. But the grace once bestowed and
wrought in the sinner's heart just cannot be destroyed. Turn
to Ecclesiastes 3. Folks ask me, well, you know,
I don't work like you fellows do amongst them anymore. But
now and then I still get asked, do you believe once saved, always
saved? Well, it depends on who does the saving. That's all there
is to it. It just depends on who does the
saving. Is salvation by your decision? No, because your decision,
it'll change before you get out of the building. Salvation by
your will? No, I don't believe once saved,
always saved. Salvation by your works? No, no, no. You can't
possibly believe once saved, always saved. But if it's God's
work, You can't believe anything else. If God did it, you can't
believe anything else. You say, I recognize people get
a dose of religion. Shelby and I were talking the
other day, going down the road. I've been at this now a long time.
And I've watched a lot of people come in, get excited, make a
confession of faith, join church, get baptized. And then they,
for whatever reason, Oscar, for whatever reason, they depart
from the gospel willingly. willingly. They never knew God. Never knew God. Doesn't matter
if it was Bob Ponce or Don Ford, they never knew God. And you
know, they start having a little trouble. Kids get in trouble,
husband gets in trouble, wife gets in trouble, somebody gets
sick, they come back to church. Start all over again. I have
never in 30 years seen it last. Never in 30 years have I seen
it last. Have you? Oh, they may come back
next year. Give them six months, they're
going again. Their religion's in spasms! Because when men willfully
walk away from the gospel, they not only willfully walk away
from the gospel of God's grace, they harden themselves in continued
unbelief and rebellion, hiding in a refuge of lies. But those
who are born of God, The wife turns into a whore.
They hurt and they ache and they cry and they go on. The husband commits suicide.
They hurt and they ache and they cry and they go on. Hurting and
aching and crying. Children bring their gray hairs
down to the grave with sorrow. They hurt and they ache and they
cry and they go on. How come? Because grace has been
wrought in their hearts, and hell can't destroy it. It only
makes the grace to grow and shine more brilliant there. Look here
at Ecclesiastes 3. I know, I know, I know. It's not up for debate. Somebody
asked me, he said, How can you be so dogmatic? Because I know
some things. I'm not guessing about it. I'm not standing up
here reciting to you what I read in the theology book last night.
I know some things. I know that whatsoever God doeth,
he never changes his mind. He doesn't change his mind. It
shall be hallowed. What does your Bible say? I happen
to have a hundred dollar bill folded up in my wallet. I happen
to have one. I'll give a hundred dollars for anybody who's got
a Bible that says it shall be for a little while. Whatever
God does, it shall be forever. It shall be forever. Nothing,
nothing, nothing, nothing can be put to it. Nor anything taken
from it. You can't add to it, and you
can't take from it. And God does it like this. So
folks will fall down and worship Him, that men should fear before
Him. You see, the gifts and callings
of God are without repentance. Now then, let me show you something
else here. Frequently, the objects of God's grace, the blessing
of God in the earth, is found in that which we consider worthless. God often gathers the jewels
for his crown from among those who have counted
the offscouring We read in the scripture there
was a woman who was a sinner, to whom much was forgiven and
she loved much. And all to whom much is forgiven,
Merle, they loved much. They loved much. They loved much. There was a prodigal. The whole
world looked at him and said, You may as well go to bed and
forget that boy. He'd been gone too long. He's not coming home.
He's not coming home. But the Lord God brought the
prodigal home. He was a rich man. Old guys. Good old boy. Prayed three times
every day. Fasted twice every week. He gave
tithes of turkey and tobacco and beans. He gave tithes of
everything. Everything. Attended church every, every
Sabbath day. He kept the Sabbath. They lived
by the law. Boy, old guys. He was a tightwad,
a miser. He walked by Lazarus and looked
at him and said, well, the Lord bless you. If you wasn't such
a wicked fellow, you wouldn't be in that shape. And he went
to hell. But there's Lazarus. Lazarus. Poor, dirty, helpless. Empty-pocketed beggar. He supported him heavy pockets.
Sores from one end of his body to the other. And the only comfort
he had for his sores were dogs' canes and licked his sores. And he sat every day by the gate
of that rich man, hoping maybe that rich man might give him
a little bread once in a while. But Lazarus is the object of
God's grace, and God kept him at that gate in that condition
to bring him to the gates of glory in the condition he's in
right now. You understand what I'm saying?
You understand it? God's ways are not our ways.
God's thoughts are not our thoughts. Spent his life in utter rebellion. His mama died when he was four
years old. She was a believing woman. She loved God. She believed
Him. And she prayed for Him and committed
her son into the hands of her Heavenly Father. And Newton was
jerked up by the hair of the head from pillar to post like
such orphaned kids would be in those days. His dad had no interest
in anything except himself. And Newton was raised on ships. When he was just a teenager,
he had his own vessel, doing business in human flesh, trading
slaves. He was once himself captive by
a tribal chieftain, a female tribal chieftain. She tied him
to a stake out in the field, threw her slop out to him. Treated
him like he treated them. But he was captive to something
worse than that. He was captive to John Newton
and his lust. Until God Almighty stepped in
and set him free. Saved him by his matchless grace,
forgave him of all the sin, set Christ in his heart, set his
heart on Christ. And John Newton wrote amazing
How sweet the sound, saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but
now I'm found, was blind, but now I see. Grace. Blessing is in it. God's blessed objects of grace
are often found in such things as is sitting here. Look here, look here. God saved me by his grace. Folks want to trace family trees
these days. Somebody asked me about mine,
I said every time I bump into it, Adam falls out and I don't
like it. I don't know anything honorable
in my family's history. I don't know anything honorable.
on either side. I don't know one stinking honorable
thing anywhere. And of all the dishonorable, in that rotten stump called my family tree, there
wasn't more rotten thing ever fell from the tree than what
stands here. And here I am, by the grace of
God, because God said, don't destroy that family, a blessing's
in it. A blessing's in it. A blessing's in it. Amen. Let's sing Amazing Grace one
more time. Maybe we can sing it now. 2.36 if you need a hymnal. Bye!